Rhetoric Of PowerPoint

1. Rhetoric Of PowerPoint Kevin Eric De Pew April 11, 2002 English 420i

2. Presentation Overview • Physical Presentation • PowerPoint Content • PowerPoint Visuals

3. Physical Presentation • Pay attention to your location relative to the screen • Do not talk to the screen; point to text when appropriate • Do not just read slides; use them to organize your talk

4. Physical Presentation When presenting in groups... • work collaboratively; have one person work the technology while the other speaks • others should not distract the audience from the speaker

5. PowerPoint Content:Introduction Forecast • Discuss the purpose / goal of talk • Provide an overview slide with main points of presentation (use these points as headings)

6. PowerPoint Content:Main Points • Include research background and your research questions • Explain how you conducted your research • Summary of your data • Conclusions drawn from data

7. PowerPoint Content:Wrap Up • Summarize all main points • Reminder about talk’s purpose • Indicate what action you want the audience to take (if any) • Ask for questions

8. Visuals • The way that each slide looks affects how the audience receives information • Therefore, pay attention to • Fonts • Color • Special Effects • Images • Repetition

9. PowerPoint Visuals:Fonts • Make slide titles stand with a larger font or different color • Use large font size for text; it should be large enough to fit six to seven words across • Use sans serif font (Arial); if text heavy, use serif (Times)

10. PowerPoint Visuals:Color • Make a strong contrast between background and text • Use a dark text with a light background and a light text with a dark background

11. PowerPoint Visuals:Special Effects • Power Point allows you to include special effects • Use appropriately and rhetorically • Do not use special effects for your overview

12. PowerPoint Visuals:Images • Use images to help make your point • You can import images from other sources • Adjust the size and placement of image box and text box • Clip Art is considered unprofessional

13. PowerPoint Visual:Repetition or Visual Sets • Repeat slide layout throughout the entire presentation • Such as text placement, font (size and color), background, and special effects • This will orient your listener

14. PowerPoint Visuals:Appropriateness • Use appropriate backgrounds, images, and special effects for your presentation • Make only one point per slide • Use as little text as possible • Verbalize long passages; do not put them on slides

15. Rhetoric of PowerPoint • Physical Presentation • PowerPoint Content • PowerPoint Visuals